


Vega Saves Christmas

by EpsilonBeta



Category: Mass Effect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-11
Updated: 2013-12-11
Packaged: 2018-01-04 07:55:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1078462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EpsilonBeta/pseuds/EpsilonBeta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some Christmas Shega fluff for Angryampersand on tumblr's Mass Effect Holiday Cheer gift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vega Saves Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [squiggyrag](https://archiveofourown.org/users/squiggyrag/gifts).



Lana Shepard sat in front of the private terminal in her quarters, staring blankly at a datapad. Sleep seemed hard to come by, lately, so she threw herself headlong into work. Trouble was, the longer she went without sleep, the harder it became to concentrate. Garrus had been concerned enough to suggest rather firmly that she take a few hours off duty to clear her head. Damnit, he was right, she wasn’t going to get any work done like this.

With a heavy sigh, she pushed back from the desk and willed her aching legs to carry her down the stairs and to her bed. She flopped down face-first without bothering to remove her clothes. Her body relaxed into the softness of her definitely not Alliance-issue blankets as she closed her eyes and drifted off on a cloud of sheer exhaustion.

Her dreams, as they usually did these days, brought with them images of Vancouver falling, reaper horns blaring.

She can’t have been asleep for more than a few moments when she woke with a start, her body jumping into action and turning to the wooshing noise from the doorway. Vega stood just inside, his hands behind his back and posture tense, face looking slightly sheepish for a second before he took in the Commander’s rumpled hair and clothes and let himself relax.

“Am I interrupting something, Lola?” He smirked.

“You wish, LT, you wish.” Shepard laughed, letting the adrenaline from her rather sudden awakening fade out of her system. She stretched her arms out above her head, rubbed a hand across her dark buzz-cut, and yawned delicately, then threw herself onto the bed, lying propped up on her elbows and staring up at the imposing figure of a marine before her. “What are you after, anyway? Sneaking up into the Captain’s cabin while she’s asleep… Some might say that was a pretty heavy risk in itself, entering your CO’s quarters without permission.”

James shifted slightly, holding a small box in one hand and a pack of cervezas in the other. She noted the red, shiny paper the box was wrapped in, the gold ribbon on top and realization dawned upon her. Shit. She looked up at his face. Oh hell, Vega only smiled like that when he really had something up his sleeve.

“Not about to propose now, are you James? And I thought you were all about the regs.” Shepard smiled fondly, willing herself not to blush, embarrassment and -oh, damn- lust running through her veins.

“You gonna open this, then, Commander? Or do I have to stand here and hold it all night?”

“Why don’t you find a the vid screen for us to watch the film on, I’ll open the beers and then I’ll open it, yeah?” She replied, pushing herself off the bed again and directing Vega to look for the portable vid screen in her bedside cabinet.

James knelt in front of the cabinet, pulling out a neatly wrapped package with a few words scrawled in an obviously rarely-used handwriting on a note attached to it.

 _To: Lt. Big McLargeHuge_  
 _It’s been an honour to serve with you, soldier._  
 _I owe you a beer – definitely once all this reaper bullshit is over.  
_ _Saludos, Lola._

Vega looked up at her like a child on, well, Christmas, as he tore off the paper and pulled out a huge grey sweater, adorned in a knitted reindeer pattern, complete with bright red nose. He couldn’t help but laugh as he looked at the ugly article of clothing, a deep, rich belly-laugh the made Shepard laugh as well.

“I hope it fits, LT, I kind of had to guess your size.” She grinned. 

“You made this, Lola?” He asked once his chuckling started to die down.

“Hell yeah, Vega. I’m not just a pretty face and a damn fine shot, you know. Besides, had to try and keep Grunt out of trouble while he was in Huerta. Decided to teach him, and I’ve not exactly been sleeping, so I managed to finish this one early.”

“Heh. Well, nice work, Commander. Had one pretty similar when I was a kid.” James pulled the woollen monstrosity over his head, grinning as the fabric settled in just right across his broad shoulders. “Hey, look! It fits!”

He carried the screen over to the sofa to place it on top of the coffee table. Shepard couldn’t help the surge of pride and the mix of other emotions as she saw James smiling contently, his large frame relaxed for a change as he leaned forward and fiddled with his omnitool to upload the vid. She wandered over to the sofa and opened two of the beers with her omnitool, exchanging one with James for the small red box as she sat down next to him.

“What are we gonna watch, then?”

“’Blasto Saves Christmas’, but not until you’ve opened your present.”

“Yessir.” Shepard quipped. She quickly pulled the paper off and opened the case, only to find herself speechless.

“I know it’s not much,” James began with a small smile. “but I thought you’d appreciate it… And I’m just about over the hero worship, so I shouldn’t be needing it any more.

Shepard studied the little blue and silver pin badge with a lump in her throat. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes as she ran a finger over the small engraving of 'Normandy Forever' and the tiny likeness of the SR-1. “I… I don’t know what to say, James.”

Dismay was evident in Vega’s expression. “Sorry, Lola, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

After another moment’s pause, Shepard threw her arms around Vega’s shoulders and buried her face in the crook of his neck. “I’m not upset. It’s perfect… You’re… I’m glad I’ve got you around, James.” She pulled back and tried to compose herself. Being so close to James at times like this was difficult. She tried so hard to keep things professional, but he just kept flirting, and damn it she was crushing hard.

Inappropriate thoughts about cute, occasionally insubordinate soldiers are not allowed, Shep, she chastised.

It was fairly easy to keep a handle on hormonal urges most of the time, she’d been an officer most of her adult life, after all, but every so often he’d do something like this, something incredibly thoughtful and kind when she really needed. It was hard not to think about him like that when she saw so much of herself in him, his approach to things. She had a tendency to blame herself for things that weren’t her fault, too, but she’d learned the hard way that wasn’t something she could keep doing forever. Thinking back to sparring with Vega a couple of cycles ago in the Cargo bay, she remembered the pep talk she’d given him and how it mirrored a very similar conversation she’d had with her previous CO.

Shit like that will swallow you down whole if you let it, Anderson had explained after Torfan. Some things you just can’t change. You did good, child, you did the right thing with the info you had, even if you don’t feel like it right now. It gets easier.

Vega interrupted her reverie with a gentle clearing of his throat. As she noticed her left hand had trailed down and was now resting lightly against his muscular chest, she removed it with a hasty apology. Pulling her hands back into her lap, she shuffled further down the sofa to put some distance between them, staring intently at the title sequence of the vid and willing herself to stop blushing like a damned schoolgirl.

“You seriously need to work on that poker face.” James laughed, scooting closer and dropping one big hand onto her knee.

“Fuck off, lieutenant.” She snapped, trying not to laugh along with him. Instead, she elbowed him in the ribs, which, funnily enough, hurt like a bitch. She rubbed the joint with a muttered “fucking huge-ass marine”.

“My ass is perfectly proportionate, thank you.” 

“Yeah, but the rest of you happens to be built like a brick shithouse.”

“First time I’ve heard you complain about my physique, Commander.” 

“Drop the ‘Commander’ in here, James. I’m not on duty and neither are you. Now are we gonna quit screwing around and watch the movie?”

About twenty minutes before the end of the film, Vega felt Shepard’s head fall against his shoulder and heard the soft sounds of her snoring gently. James certainly wasn’t too concerned about the idea of a pretty girl falling asleep on him, but it said a lot that the Commander had finally been relaxed enough to crash out.

He gently moved her so he could wind an arm around her shoulders and lean her against his chest, which she figured would be more comfortable than sitting completely upright. He sat there with her against him until the end titles came on, when he tried to carry her over to her bed. She slept like a rock throughout, not stirring until he’d laid her out on top of the covers and bent to press a gentle kiss on her forehead. He didn’t even know why he did it, in all honesty, just seemed like the thing to do.

When he pulled back and made to move off the bed and out of the room, however, he heard the sleepy “James? Don’t go?” from Shepard’s lips. He definitely knew she wouldn’t say that if she was awake, however, he also figured anything that helped her sleep was probably better for the mission. 

After a moment’s deliberation, he pulled off his boots and stretched out on the bed next to her and after a deep breaths, fell asleep himself.


End file.
